Meditations on The Ungrateful Refugee
Rana Asfour shares her thoughts on the widely-celebrated book from Dina Nayeri, who writes that escaping and becoming a refugee preoccupied her life for more than 20 years.
Book Reviews
Gaza Melancholic
Author and SOAS professor Gilbert Achcar reviews the latest book from Gaza scholar Sara Roy.
Temptations of the Imagination: how Jana Elhassan and Samar Yazbek transmogrify the world
Rana Asfour provides an intimate look at two new Arab novels in translation, from Lebanese and Syrian authors.
Recovering/Remembering Love, Sex and Trauma
Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi follows her novels "Fra Keeler" and "Call Me Zebra" with a story set in Andalucia.
From Jerusalem to a Kingdom by the Sea
Rana Asfour reviews a new memoir about the legendary Dajani family, charged by a Turkish sultan with watching over King David's Tomb in Jerusalem, but exiled in 1948.
Three Banned Saudi Novels Everyone Should Read
Despite its repressive regimes, Saudi Arabia has produced a number of world-class novelists — several of whom have seen their best work banned. Rana Asfour reviews three in English translation.
Diary of the Collapse—Charif Majdalani on Lebanon’s Trials by Fire
A.J. Naddaff reviews the latest work of creative nonfiction by Lebanon's Charif Majdalani, as his nation teeters on the edge of the abyss.
The Vanishing: Are Arab Christians an Endangered Minority?
Hadani Ditmars reviews Janine di Giovanni's ambitious new travelogue on beleaguered Christian communities in Iraq, Gaza, Syria, and Egypt.
The Ignominy of Guantánamo: a History of Torture
Marian Janssen, biographer of a forthcoming volume on the flamboyant American poet Carolyn Kizer, reviews the new memoir by former prisoner Mansoor Adayfi.
Racha Mounaged’s Debut Novel Captures Trauma of Lebanese Civil War
From time to time, TMR reviews recent titles published in other languages, to give readers insight before they become available in English. A.J. Naddaff One of the most… Continue reading Racha Mounaged’s Debut Novel Captures Trauma of Lebanese Civil War
Faraj Bayrakdar, Once Syria’s Prisoner, is Freedom’s Poet
India Hixon Radfar reviews the newly-translated collection of poetry from a former prisoner in Syria.
Poetry: Mohammed El-Kurd’s Rifqa Reviewed
India Hixon Radfar reviews the first collection of poetry from Palestinian firebrand Mohammed El-Kurd.
Gitmo and Abu Ghraib, Infamous Symbols of US Human Rights Violations
Mischa Geracoulis reviews Maria Armoudian's "Lawyers Beyond Borders, Advancing International Human Rights Through Local Laws and Courts."
Egypt Dreams of Revolution, a Review of “Slipping”
Mohamed Kheir’s oneiric novel takes readers on a journey around Egypt after the failed Arab Spring.
ISIS and the Absurdity of War in the Age of Twitter
Jessica Proett reviews Salar Abdoh's empirical novel set during the days when ISIS was running loose across Iraq and Syria.